


Almagest

by LNJames



Series: Suddenly Everything Has Changed [20]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: A Trip to Krypton, Alternate Universe - Historical, Canonish With Liberties, F/F, History!, Libraries and Labratories and Labyrinths Oh My, Mystery!, SCIENCE!, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Time Travel, love among the ruins, magic!, obscure references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:34:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22136401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNJames/pseuds/LNJames
Summary: Kara Zor-El and Lena Luthor set out on a monumental quest to save the world from Leviathan and the forces of darkness. Spanning centuries and lifetimes, they manage to find each other in precarious circumstances fighting against foes seen and unseen. With each new adventure, they get closer and closer to each other and to the key that will save the future. There will be love and loss and love again along the way, hope and a happy ending with some angst and hurt/comfort thrown in for good measure and for reasons. In the end, two heroes save the world and each get their girl.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Series: Suddenly Everything Has Changed [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/735894
Comments: 12
Kudos: 32





	1. Firenze

_A map without landmarks is useless. Science_  
_dreams its dreams of knowledge—names it, pokes it_  
_with equations. The crucial thing is not fifty_  
_times whatever but how we got these notions: how_  
_much, how many, how far, how long. It’s good_  
_to give explicit answers, showing all the steps,_  
_necessary and sufficient. Finding the dots,_  
_connecting the dots. An interrogation of the dots._  
_A pip, a point, a seed, a stone. This is philosophy._  
_These are suppositions. If one has no apples,_  
_one has zero apples. There is, you see, no shortage_  
_of open problems. We carve up the world_  
_and crown it with numbers—lumens, ounces,_  
_decibels. All these things and what to do with them._  
_We carve up the world all the time. - R. Siken_

******************************************

_**Florence, Italy 1730 A.D.** _

An unsettling quiet descended upon the city in the darkest part of a late fall night. The air was chilled with the coming winter and the end of a dynasty taking its last breaths. She made her way through the cobbled streets by memory, touchstones of familiar brick and marbled buildings had been rendered invisible in the darkness. A few dying fires burned in hearths along Via Calimala and the tang of old smoke clung to her hair. It would be hours before they were stoked again for the day’s bread and stews. The city was mostly asleep save for the flowing black Arno under the Ponte Vecchio. She met no one along her steady path except for a few other dark figures crossing the piazza. They wouldn’t have seen her anyway, shadowed and hidden in the black of her cloak. Even so, the Battistero di San Giovanni was like a shining beacon, white stone and black lines standing out in the night, but she did not linger. Time was of the essence and it was running out.

In her leather satchel, Lutessa von Luthor possessed a generous gift and an item that her family had paid dearly for in one way or another. It was up to her to make good on a promise that she had made to a stranger with no way of knowing whether it would work or what it might cost her. But something hopeful and insistent burned inside her and that was enough. The House of Medici had fallen, by all intents and purposes, and the House of Luthor had exerted its control from afar. Vast fortunes could buy many things and she was no fool when it came to the acquisition of powerful relics. She had planned this night for months, laying the foundation of her quest in the quiet rooms and stone vaults of her father’s immense palatial estate in Vienna and in the streets and hidden chambers of Firenze. An important piece of the puzzle fell into her hands here in this city weeks ago, through charm alone.

***

_The carriage ride up to Castello was bumpy at best description and when Lutessa von Luthor finally arrived at Villa La Quiete, she was thankful for the promise of ground under her feet. Her driver held his hand out and she took it. This visit was the result of a careful orchestration of strings pulled, favors called in, and of course, the transfer of sums of money in the name of ‘art’. Still, she let her eyes wander across the vast greenery starting to turn to reds and oranges. The gardens were surrounded by stone walls, niches of carvings and statues, small trees and carefully cultivated shrubbery and she knew this visit was risky. The wrong words in the wrong way could completely jeopardize her plans. The hold of the Medici on the city might be dying, but it was still powerful._

_The villa itself was a large square set upon the hill, several stories and spacious enough to get lost in and palatial in its expanse. Browned tiled roofs had baked in the sun and the light white stucco shone bright. The summer heat was ending, and the chill of fall clung in places. Here on the hill of this estate, the wind blew enough to cool and there was little activity and even less sound, save for the birds. In its way, the villa held a sense of solitude that she could appreciate. The banishment home of the former Electress of the Palatinate could be in worse places._

_“Welcome, Signora Luthor.”_

_She nodded at the greeting from a tall gentleman she recognized as the head of staff for the surviving Medici matriarch. His welcome had been bought with a tidy settlement endowed to his mother in Siena._

_“Grazie.”_

_She smiled slightly as he opened the large wooden door and extended his arm, bowing his head at her._

_“She is in the gallery waiting. As promised.”_

_Without any further preamble, Lutessa entered the villa and blinked into the darkness. The sun from outside was gone in the long entryway and her low heeled boots echoed across the marbled floor. She quickly gained her sight and took a deep breath, her hands pressing down along the tight corset constricting her ribs and the green velvet dress that flowed around her hips. She wore a cape of gold and black, the House of Luthor colors, to cover her shoulders. With her long black hair piled high upon her head in ringlets and curls, she was ready for her audience with the patroness of arts and the last person who could help her get what she needed._

_“I pity the men of Florence and their fragile egos.”_

_The words seemed to come out of nowhere as she stepped into the gallery of the villa, the art adorning all sides of the room seemed to take on a life of its own such that she wondered if the walls could talk._

_“Scusi?”_

_She scanned the room until she saw an older woman seated near the far wall, the ornate wood of the furnishings obscuring her briefly until she rose. Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici walked towards her in a rich blue stain dress layered with a shawl of white. Her once-dark hair had grayed but it still was voluminous around her pale face. Her frame had grown soft and plump, but her eyes were sharp. She could feel them roam her body and she kept still as the older woman approached her._

_“To think that they might catch the eye of Countess Lutessa von Luthor. Your rumored beauty was no myth, I see.”_

_She kept her smile to herself at the compliment. Her looks had certainly opened doors before in her life, but what few knew was how her mind worked far beyond the grizzled scholars who tried to teach her. Such was her power and she was not above acknowledging and using whatever means necessary. With a slight bow, she lowered her head in deference before she reached to take the offered hand._

_“You flatter me, Electress. But it is I who is honored to be received by such a noble hand as yours. The stories of your enduring patronage are only rivaled by your kindness. Please call me Lena as my father does.”_

_The gentle laugh and squeeze of her hand that followed allowed a smile to form on Lena’s face._

_“Lena it is. I assume Lionel and Lillian are both well?”_

_At her parents’ names, Lena kept her face placid as she simply nodded. Now was not the time to bring up old family histories between the Medici and the Luthors. It was better to focus on the future and frankly, that was why she was here._

_“They are. I bring their greetings and a gift. The artist Bartolomeo Altomonte has done a rendering of the immaculate conception that we humbly hope meets the high standards of your collections, Electress.”_

_The older woman smiled, shaking her head as she led Lena back towards the sitting area in the gallery. A large window overlooked the garden and they sat._

_“You may call me Anna Maria. I have spent a lifetime navigating the politics of my family’s name and what people have chosen to call me as a result of it. I am sure you understand how it is to put a name aside and simply be oneself.”_

_At that, Lena took a breath in and wondered how it must feel to be the last of one’s kind after a long reign of prominence. The Medici has molded cities and a continent through the establishment of finance and property, patrons of the arts and sciences indeed, but also installing Popes and controlling the social and political structures from Rome to Firenze and Venezia. They jockeyed with the houses of Savoy, Visconti and Borgia for influence, but the Lorraine and the Habsburg from the outside were now knocking. The von Luthors were following close behind, though their reputation for several generations of shrewd banking and industry that was becoming known throughout Europe. Lena had been taught in the finest schools in Vienna and her brother Alexander was expanding the family business in London. She knew the weight of a name and the way history could be unkind._

_“I do.”_

_“So what brings you here to see me? It must have come at a great cost. My brother Gian Gastone has allowed me so few visitors in my exile. You must be here for a reason.”_

_Lena sat still and quiet in her chair while a young girl brought them tea on a silver platter. She nodded her thanks and waited until they were alone again before she spoke, tempering her words._

_“It is not with his blessing, I must admit.”_

_Anna Maria raised an eyebrow at her at the same time she brought the cup to her lips and sipped. Carefully, she held the cup at her lap and looked at Lena._

_“Then you must either be foolish or naive. Gian and his ruspanti have eyes and ears throughout the city.”_

_“Indeed. And while I may be foolish when it comes to matters of the heart, I am not naive to the risks involved.”_

_Anna Maria cocked her head to the side and regarded her more closely._

_“Matters of the heart brought you here? Really? What do you hope to find with a lady of my age?”_

_Lena smiled and allowed her face and her words to build a bridge._

_“I seek only your wisdom, though should your heart follow, I cannot say it would not be an honor, were I worthy of it.”_

_The soft laugh of the matriarch Medici filled the sunlit room and Lena lifted the porcelain cup to her lips and raised an eyebrow. Anna Maria lifted her hand to smooth gray hair back from her temple and sat back in her chair._

_“Well, I certainly was not expecting charm from a von Luthor, but here we are. What wisdom do I possess that puts you at such great risk?”_

_Here, Lena set down her teacup and leaned forward, her corset doing as many favors as she allowed and the Medici gaze drifted before settling back on her eyes._

_“I seek an answer that only your family can provide. Does this look familiar?”_

_Lena pulled a sheet of vellum from the soft black leather travel satchel at her side and handed it to Anna Maria. The older woman took it and reached for a pair of glass lenses on a silver stick and looked at the writing and the symbol outlined in scrawling black ink. She looked back at Lena as her brows came together._

_“Where did you get this?”_

_She would have to tread lightly now, the acquisition of this palimpsest had been a long story over a century and it did not seem wise to bring up the circumstances now._

_“It came into my family’s possession some time ago and I have..borrowed..it from my father.”_

_The older woman looked at her and this was make or break, how old family histories and new world orders collided to either advance the plot or ruin it all._

_“So the von Luthors stole this from the Grand Duke Ferdinando de’ Medici.”_

_Lena hesitated and decided the truth was the only way forward at this point._

_“Yes.”_

_“And you in turn stole it from Lionel, your own father.”_

_Lena held Anna Maria’s eyes and demurely answered._

_“I did.”_

_The quiet in the room was worthy of the villa itself and Lena was afraid that she would be thrown to wolves of Medici. Instead, the older woman started laughing, deeply, and it echoed among the frescos and the art in Castello as if a cork had been popped. Anna Maria held the thin paper in one hand while the other pressed against her powered bosom until she recovered enough to speak._

_“I underestimated you and that was my mistake. If you possess this, it is clear you know what it is and how valuable it could be. This page has been lost to the winds of this city for a long time and even the Medici could not find it. Well done.”_

_Lena took a breath and relaxed, the tension leaving her body as she regarded a woman who had been through enough family drama of her own to not take offense at the past and the present. Her brother was a tyrant and her former husband died of what was rumored to be the disease of indiscreet discretion among the nobile class. Anna Maria de’ Medici was now a prisoner in exile and had seen it all and this was the least of her concerns._

_“So tell me, Lena von Luthor, what do you wish to know about this lost page from the Saggi di naturali esperienze? La Academia del Cimento disbanded long ago.”_

_“I believe it is a clue to an ancient secret that holds great promise for the future and I must find the key before it is too late.”_

_Anna Maria looked down at the vellum and Lena could see her eyes reading over the text and then falling to the symbol in the center of the page. The intricate circle contained a maze of lines as if a labyrinth inside. She watched the older woman trace the lines and then look back at her._

_“I have seen this. And I have held it.”_

_Lena looked at her with surprise._

_“It exists? It’s real?”_

_Anna Maria closed her eyes slightly as she nodded, her face turning serious._

_“It is real. And it is far more dangerous than the words on this page imply.”_

_“Where is it now?”_

_Here, Anna Maria paused, looked her in the eyes and shook her head._

_“Lena. You are asking about something that could lead to ruin if you are not careful. I must caution you that there are many things in this world that can be used for both destruction or salvation depending upon who possesses it. This is one of them.”_

_Lena had read enough to know that this was true and her own eyes had seen it as well. She had started to map out the connections between events in history and had recorded a pattern that was as awe-inspiring as it was terrifying. Perhaps it was her burden to bear, the curse she was gifted with as a small child, but Lena had the power of perception and prophecy and the right mind to put all that knowledge together. What she lacked right now was all of the pieces, but they were beginning to show themselves to her. If it were not for her stubborn, foolish heart, she would probably not follow it so blindly, but Lena was on a quest not for herself, but for someone else, a golden girl who had fallen from the stars as if by miracle. Soft words brought her back to the here and now._

_“You see this fresco above us and the way it catches the light?”_

_Lena looked up to where Anna Maria was pointing, gold framing and circles surrounded a scene of figures in repose. The lady of the house continued._

_“La quiete che pacifica i venti. One of Giovanni de San Giovanni’s commissioned pieces. What do you see in such a scene, Lena?”_

_Lena let her eyes fall upon each figure, a woman looking kindly at an elder in deep introspection. Two bare chested youth lay among the clouds, one lost in dreams of sleep and the pouring out of time or of the sky above with a flower crown and a bouquet amongst the blanket of wings. And as there was light, there was also darkness and Lena’s eyes caught the stare of another figure in the scene who seemed to be looking right at her. Disconnected and solitary, she saw the weight of waiting on his face, dark wings with nowhere to go and no one to see his presence or his absence. She pulled her eyes away and murmured._

_“The quiet which pacifies the wind. I see the past and the future, dark and light, hope and despair. I see what I must do.”_

_“Hmmm. And what will you do with such knowledge should you gain it?”_

_Lena looked over at the older Medici and told the truth._

_“I will use it to save her.”_

_“She must be someone special then for you to risk the unknown, your life even.”_

_Lena closed her eyes and remembered the day she first saw a miracle appear as if it were yesterday. But she had little time left and many more plans to make before she was ready._

_“She is. The future depends on her. Please. Can you help me?”_

_She wasn’t sure what answer the Medici would give or what family secrets she would betray for a stranger such as herself. Lena was from the House of Luthor and there was no reason for any kindness because of that. The best she could hope for was where to look next, what stone to overturn before she found the key. Instead, the older woman rose from her seat and straightened her long skirt before she spoke._

_“Wait here and look carefully at your future.”_

_And then she was gone and Lena was left in the gallery alone, the quiet settling around her as the sun started to set on the gardens outside. She looked around at the deep rich paintings on the walls, careful to avoid the fresco on the ceiling as the minutes passed until she could not help but look up. There was darkness at the edge, yes, a figure whose eyes found hers until she blinked and instead found a flower crown upon a face that gazed upwards with unafraid eyes and parted lips, wings tucked underneath as if there was no reason to fly. The dark hair around that figure shifted until it was a bed of golden strands and eyes turned blue. Lena felt a blush at the bare chest and her hand remembered what it felt like to press against a heart that beat as strong as thunder until she felt a thousand other hearts beating under it. She would give her life for a woman with eagle wings and the heart of a lion, it was her destiny._

_The gallery was then filled with the sound of careful steps walking towards her and Lena’s eyes fell from the scene above to the imprisoned Medici._

_“Take this. It will help you find what you are looking for.”_

_She rose as Anna Maria held out a small wooden box and a golden key in an intricate lock on the front. Lena took the box and before she could open it, a soft hand covered her own._

_“But this will not save you from yourself.”_

_Lena nodded, her eyes holding the other woman’s in steady acknowledgement._

_“I know.”_

_“I can offer you one other piece of advice: Search carefully in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana among my family’s vast manuscripts. The promise of what is revealed on your Saggi page will not be found there, but in an original volume of clues lost to the ages. The Almagestum. My family’s private library contains a hidden map of its last known location. Be wary of my brother and his ruspanti, they still hold the city with ill temper and malice.”_

_Lena’s eyes grew wide and she put her hand over Anna Maria’s, squeezing it gently._

_“I don’t know how I can ever repay you for your kindness and generosity. I will remember and honor it, I promise.”_

_Anna Maria leaned in and let her lips gently press against Lena’s cheek._

_“Consider it the gift of wisdom you sought when you first came here. If I cannot have your heart, I pray the one who has it keeps it safe. Good luck, Lena von Luthor.”_

_The sun was setting over the gardens of La Villa Quiete as the carriage took Lena down from the countryside hill and back towards Firenze. Tucked against her side and safe within her satchel, the wooden box felt heavy and leaden with promise, like the puzzle pieces that now swirled in her head. The ride was silent as darkness fell and Lena von Luthor prepared for what came next._

***

Lena carefully made her way in the shadows north of the piazza, crossing stone streets and ducking into niches between the buildings. She was silent and fast, making her way quickly along the edges of the night. Her black cloak concealed her head and she had no need for what settled against her thigh. The satchel was tied tightly around her waist and held the weight of darkness wrapped in a vellum page. For good measure, a long silver dagger occupied her other hip and she hoped she did not have to use it tonight. Lena carefully checked her surroundings and looked up at the stars starting to peek through the cloudy night. If her calculations were right, she was on time and almost in the right place.

With a few steps along Via dei Conti, she barely had a chance to say a word before a strong hand covered her mouth and an arm pulled her into a tight spot between brick buildings. She was pulled back against a warm body and her eyes went wide as she watched a group of men slowly make their way down the middle of the street, the glint of iron rods in their hands reminding her of the danger of Gian Gastone and his reach in Firenze. The hand at her mouth slowly released itself but the arm around her waist held her firmly in place. She could hear a low whisper against her ear through the velvet of her cloak hood.

“Sorry. Needed to hide us quickly.”

As the men continued down the street, Lena slowly turned in the tight space and pushed the cloak off her head as the arm around her let go but a hand remained at her hip. Even in the darkness, she could not mistake the face. In a cloak of deep crimson, the woman in front of her smiled and Lena could see blond hair cascading out of a hood that was now lowered. Blue eyes were bright and she could feel the heat of them on her face. Lena’s soft words filled the space between them.

“It’s...you.”

She saw white teeth flash between lips and a quick nod.

“It’s me. As promised.”

Lena’s head swirled at the memory of years ago roaring into life. She had planned to be here in this spot whether or not the woman standing in front of her showed up. How could she be sure that a whispered promise made a decade ago in Vienna would be fulfilled? And yet here they both were in the shadows of Firenzie about to break into the Medici library in a quest to save the world. The other woman smiled softly, wonder in her voice as her fingers sparked against Lena’s hand.

“And you.”

Lena heard her own voice, low in the dark but as sure as she had ever been.

“As promised.”

If it were any other time or place, Lena would have laughed. Instead, she lifted her hand and pressed it against a chest just so she could make sure that the golden girl in front of her was real and that her heart beat as strongly as Lena remembered. This time, she was not going to let Kara Zor-El go.


	2. Krypton

_ “What though the field be lost?  All is not Lost; the unconquerable will.” - Milton (Paradise Lost) _

**_Krypton_ **

There was always a pretty sky but what stood out most were the colors of Krypton itself. The planet was teeming with vivid scenes of life. From the luminescent scales of butterfly fish in the tide pools of Vathlo Island, to the electric plumage of crystal and courtship birds in the south of Lurvan, and to the intricate violet camouflage on the hides of the rorrk and the iridescent grillig on Bokos, Krypton was a feast for the eyes. The fields of deep purple oregus, bloodmorel, and singing flowers all shimmered with vibrancy, deep reds and pale pinks, delicate yellows and all the colors that had no name. The hantha tree forests took on the hue of the wedding bell flowers that grew under them, lush carpets of gold and silver and amethyst blue glowed as bright in the day as in the night. The Scarlet Jungle was home to the teal corvids while the Jewel Mountains glistened with rock and crystal veins that glittered like treasure. But nothing quite compared to the Fire Falls. It poured lava in every color -- the hot of hot blue, whites so bright it burned, oranges and yellows alternating in ribbons, and of course, reds that matched the jungles and the skies and the Blood Blooms and the Dar-Essas that grew the size of trees.

There were ancient texts that held all of the stories. From Yuda Kal who gave birth and life to all things to Rao’s humble beginnings as a tiny pink speck of light on the horizon, the old prophecies and belief systems told of Krypton’s splendor. The stories were filled with resilience and striving, trust in the divine among the people who first walked on the planet. Over time, new stories replaced the old ones, the language evolved, knowledge poured into each new generation, and the people thrived. Krypton was a fanciful garden full of creatures large and small and the people made it theirs as people are wont to do. Some held on to the old, many reached for the new and with it came advances beyond imagination.

All of this richness on the planet, this glorious meal for the senses, made it seem like such beauty could never end. All of Krypton, the green and blue and magenta seas, everything seemed eternal. Like it would _endure_. Cities grew up in spirals of bright crystal and glass and progress, the air filled with flying things and the people found ways to use science beyond imagination. The machines they made were miracles, the discoveries rapidly unspooled like threads from a thousand spinning wheels, the advancements outpaced what their home planet could provide and so they travelled and brought back the things that they found. Krypton was becoming crowded in ways that made it hard for smart people to be kind; different views led to different choices which led to different fights which fractured instead of knitted.

Little by little, some things changed and some things stayed the same. Over time, it became harder and harder to remember what was lost and what was gained. There were moments in time that were harbingers of things to come and moments where it felt like Krypton would always be what it had been and what it was meant to be. The people made up stories to tell each other and their children of what life was like, the joy, the pain, the achievements, the sorrows, the way the light changed in the sky and which birds sang when and how the vibrant colors of the flowers could not be believed. People told themselves stories about the future. How all things endure if the conditions are right, if the numbers add up, if they only tried harder and believed it was possible, if they only had hope.

On Krypton, people told themselves stories.

***

_**Kandor** -343781.5055809233_

_The marbled halls of Jaru rang with her steps as she ran as fast as she could. She was late through no fault of her own, but her mother would not be pleased if she were to interrupt the annual proceedings of the Kryptonian Science Council. The fact that she was even there was a near miracle brought about by her own mastery of the agenda contents, but also by sheer will and a pout that her father could not bear. Kara Zor-El skidded around the last of the white columns lining the walls until she came face to face with a member of the Sapphire Guard, his suit of shimmering silver and his pointed energy lance aglow with blue._

_“Halt. The Council proceedings have started.”_

_Kara righted herself and pressed her hand down along her thighs to straighten her long white tunic. The crest of El was woven into the front of it with gold stitching and on her feet were boots of the softest synthetic rorrk dyed in a golden and white pattern and trimmed with royal blue ribbing. With a deep breath, she nodded, her eyes looking past him at the tall door of Hantha wood behind him still slightly ajar._

_“I think I still have time to get inside. I have an assignment to deliver.”_

_The guard looked down at her dubiously before he shook his head._

_“Orders from the Council are to lock the doors promptly after the members have been seated. Please turn back.”_

_She shook her head and held up a satchel and pointed._

_“But I’m to deliver a paper on new methods of biospheric processing and terra-forming trials on Wegthor. They haven’t started yet, I can see!”_

_With that, the guard reached behind him and shut the door with a loud thud, his eyes returning to hers with a hardness that was not necessary._

_“Orders are orders. The meeting has begun now that the door is closed.”_

_“But...I still have time! I’m expected to speak!”_

_“For a guild that prides themselves on precision, I find you science types have little regard for the rule of law and order.”_

_Kara felt the warmth on her face flare a little as she huffed, her eyes pleading even with the growing frustration._

_“You know it hasn’t started yet. Can you just please let me in? My mother is going to kill me.”_

_“Perhaps she has reason. You were late.”_

_She sputtered and her hand flew up, not exactly to point but to wave at his face._

_“I..you...that was extremely unfair to say and frankly, unkind as well.”_

_“I will accept your compliments with more dignity than you’ve accepted my observations.”_

_Kara felt her eyes water a little and heat rise from her neck to her cheeks. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, recited a very small bit of a small meditation to calm her mind and steady her hand that formed into a fist for no other reason than this was her big year-long research presentation and there was no way the meeting had started because the Jaru bells had not run and everyone knows they ring when the Council is called to order. There were many things Kara was - smart, talented, skilled, creative, hopeful - all the words Alura and Zor-El recited to her as she grew older. But patience wasn’t one of her virtues yet and she was running thin. Just as she was about to invoke her last resort get-in-free card, she heard a throat clear behind her._

_“Kara. I expected you to be inside already and prepared for your presentation. Would you care to explain?”_

_At her mother’s voice, Kara turned around. She had been about to use the ‘do you know who I am’ card with the guard, but luckily her mother and father were both later to arrive than she was and for that she felt a slight bit of vindication. With a nod, she looked over her shoulder and spoke._

_“This..kind..guard wanted to ensure that the High Council Chair had arrived safely before he let me in. And here you are! Here we are...all together and on time!”_

_Zor-El chuckled and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder and squeeze._

_“Kara, you’re always so thoughtful of your guild protocols and orders. Are we ready then?”_

_The Sapphire Guard looked at Kara and his lips thinned into a line that held neither mirth nor contempt as he nodded to them all and stepped aside. Kara winked at him and they exchanged a look that was this side of respect and that side of defiance. Just as the House of El began to enter the chamber for Alura to take her seat at the head and for Zor-El to staff the biomatter section as first chair, the bells of Jaru rang. The day ahead would be long and Kara practically bounced in her boots, the thrill of speaking before the Council on matters of import made her vibrate with excitement. Her sixteenth year on Krypton was starting off strong and what lay ahead for them was the quest for knowledge and a way forward. Krypton needed the Science Guild now more than ever._

_*_

_Kara raptly watched from the proceedings from her bench along the balcony with all the other guild apprentices, their calm faces belied the nervous energy they all felt. Each had given their short capstone presentations shortly after the meeting started and now they saw the real action begin. Each science section first chair stood and gave an assessment, but it was her mother’s tone of voice after a debate about the future of Krytponian energy resources that gave Kara pause._

_“Do you or do you not know how much of this new energy source we have available currently and in the future?”_

_Alura was standing in front of the semicircular podium in her traditional blue Council dress with the House of El symbol stitched in gold threads. She was directing her attention towards the geothermal chair - Jor-El, her father’s brother, and the infomatics chair, Dala-Ul. Kara watched as her father consulted his notes and spoke to the group._

_“We still do not know whether this source is stable or safe for mass production. The chain-impulses we observed in the planet’s core seems to interact with the stability of this substance. Harun-El, as I have taken to calling it, will require years of research before we know of its properties and its promise.”_

_“When you say years, what is an exact number we can expect for answers?”_

_The room was transfixed by the conversation, heads of gray hair and faces of youthful skin alike watched with interest. Jor-El scrolled through his liqui-pad notes and she watched him shake his head towards the members. Her uncle spoke quietly._

_“We do not have an accurate estimate at this time, but the pressure is building exponentially so we must act with haste.”_

_The members all looked at each other and staff members sitting behind them shuffled through their liqui-pad screens. Dala-Ul raised her hand. Alura nodded and spoke._

_“The Chair recognizes Dala-Ul of the infomatics guild.”_

_“I must state for the Council record that we have less time than we would like. Our scientists have been reviewing all of the information and data the Council at large has gathered since records have been kept. We know three things. One, Krypton’s core temperature has increased every year without fail since recorded time. Two, as a result of our rapid proliferation, our current advancements will alter the planet’s atmosphere in ways that will be difficult to sustain life.”_

_At that, there were low murmurings of dissent and agreement combined until Alura’s stern glance around the table hushed the chairs. Dala-Ul looked at them all and spoke what had been until now unspoken._

_“And finally, our sun is showing signs of extreme rapid decline as a dying red dwarf star.”_

_Again the murmurings rose until Alura held up her hand and raised her voice._

_“Silence please, this Council is still following our governing rules and Dala-Ul is speaking. What are you advising us to do with this information, for the record?”_

_Kara watched as the infomatics chair stood, her graying hair pulled back into a braided plait behind her silver Council dress. The House of Ul symbol, with its intricate labyrinth of lines, was stitched in black along the sleeves of her dress. With a serious nod, the older woman spoke._

_“Based on all available information, we believe it best to plan for planetary destruction in our lifetime unless we drastically alter our behavior and stabilize the planet core. The probability of achieving those two goals is, I’m afraid, less than .000001.”_

_The room was deathly quiet as everyone finally absorbed the words that had not yet been said aloud in the chamber. There had been whispers and certainly pieces of the puzzle had been shared at regional guild meetings, in scholarly journals, and of course hinted at during Council. But it had not yet but pieced together in a way that made the future feel so certain. Kara took a deep breath and watched her parents, trying to piece together how to react. Her own mind whirled with what she could do, one person among many, to help._

_*_

_The aeroglide ride back to Argo City was quiet, the transporter full of the House of El and other guild staffers all deep in thought. For Kara’s part, she watched the planet below her zoom by, the light red haze in the air making it difficult to see the buildings of Kandor receded, instead replaced by the endless desolate dusty Plain of Wanan. The rippled dry sand was all the same color and Kara tried to imagine the same scene from lore. In the old days, the Plain was not a desert but a tropical palm forest full of oregus plants and shaded stands of green and red hemerocallis. There had been a sparkling river running through the middle of it, teeming with life and as clear as glass. If Kara tried hard enough, she could see the trace outline of that meandering red line now dried in the dust. What she wouldn’t give to go back in time and see Krypton for what it had been instead of what it had become. With a sigh, she closed her eyes as the aeroglide skimmed over the surface and began the long journey back across the planet she called home._

_**_

_The wind whipped around her, strands of blonde hair covered her eyes and the roar drowned out the sound enough to disorient. It was hard to tell where she was, the landscape was unfamiliar with all its vibrant greens and deep blues and bright yellows. In the distance she saw a person standing alone near the edge of where the ground fell away into nothing. She saw the figure turn, a girl her age if she had to guess. Her hair was as dark as night blowing around her head like black satin ribbons until Kara locked eyes with her and saw her start to stumble, to fall._

_Somewhere inside of her, Kara Zor-El felt her ribs expand at the sight and her feet grew wings as if to fly. In an instant, she ran and reached out, grabbing the other girl at the elbow and steadying her. Her fingers felt electric sparking up along her arm as she touched pale skin softer than she could imagine. The wind calmed, green eyes found hers, and Kara heard soft words from the girl, less in surprise but in relief._

_“It’s..you..”_

_“I..had to come.”_

_Her own words fell out of her mouth, compelled by something rumbling deep inside of her. Kara let out a breath and reached up, pushing her own hair out of her eyes as she glanced at the drop of distance behind the girl and saw waves and rocks below crashing. The height and the fall would be too much to bear and Kara looked back at the girl, all pale skin and darkness. There was only one way out of the endless spinning and the answer was in front of her. With a gentle tug, she pulled the girl back from the edge. A soft smile sent a jolt with it._

_“And you did.”_

_Kara swallowed when the other girl reached out and tangled her fingers into Kara’s own hand. She let herself relax and feel the squeeze of pressure as she was coaxed away from the edge. It was strange, to feel another’s hand on hers after all this time and it made her take a deep breath when Kara realized that she could feel anything at all. It had been so long._

_“Walk with me.”_

_Kara followed along, led away from the ocean until the sun finally came out and they were alone in a field of gold. On each side of them, tall grasses reached upwards and Kara reached her other hand out to brush against the greenery, fingers touching each tall blade of grass. It was like Krypton, before everything changed, it was a feast for her eyes, life in full bloom reaching up towards a young sun, Rao in his youth. She smiled at the thought. In a clearing far away, she let herself be pulled down into the greenest grass she had ever seen. All around her was alive and she too. With hushed words, Kara looked back at the other girl._

_“Where are we?”_

_The other girl spoke to her like she was sharing a secret._

_“I have something to tell you.”_

_Kara hesitated at the words, faltering a little until she calmed herself by pushing the hair out of her eyes and behind her ear._

_“What is it?”_

_At that, Kara felt the other girl’s hand rest against her knee and allowed herself to absorb the pressure. Her body was a funny thing, here in this place, everything churning inside of her as if on fire or full of life, she wasn’t sure which. Somehow, though, this touch from a stranger calmed and soothed the way she felt like magic. Green eyes found hers again and spoke softly._

_“Even when it looks like everything is lost, please think the best of me.”_

_Kara furrowed her brow as the world around them quieted and glowed in the summer sun. She wasn’t sure what it all meant, what would be lost. This girl with the dark hair appeared out of nowhere it seemed in this place and reached across the distance to gently soothe her fingers across her brow. It too calmed her but Kara whispered anyway._

_“I..don’t understand.”_

_The other girl leaned in close and whispered back to her._

_“Trust me.”_

_And then Kara’s head clouded a little as her eyes widened at the touch of lips against her own, as soft as a cloud. It felt like a candy pillow, tingling with sugar and burning warm as it melted. Somehow it all made sense, in that strange way that nothing ever makes sense and Kara inhaled the faint scent of sweet flowers in the air and knew that something sparked somewhere inside. When she opened her eyes, she saw golden green looking back at her as sure as anything could be right now and felt her hand lifted. She looked down and watched as the girl pressed a small golden silver key into her palm and closed it around it. Kara’s face warmed at the touch against her cheek and the serious look on the other girl’s face._

_“Promise me, you’ll use this to find me when the time comes.”_

_Kara blinked and held the key in her hand, the cold heavy metal starting to warm. Her body was starting to feel the pull of something tugging at her. The ground around her was starting to shake away and all the colors were fading. She glanced around her and saw the tall grasses swaying as the wind picked up and the edges of each blade of grass began to blur. She felt hands on her arms and turned back to see the dark haired girl looking at her intently._

_“Kara, promise me..”_

_Kara’s body was beginning to drift away even as she tried to stop it. The girl held on to her arms and squeezed tight enough that Kara felt it holding her still for a moment and she looked back into what was quickly fading. Whatever it took, she would keep this deep inside of her and remember. With a nod and a smile, Kara spoke into the wind until the wind was all she could hear._

_“I promise.”_

_In an instant, the colors were gone and everything was dark and everything was quiet. It barely registered but she felt a gentle nudge against her arm and took a deep breath, inhaling as she blinked her eyes. Her mother was smiling at her and she could see her father shaking his head jovially._

_“Wake up, honey.”_

_She was in the House of El docking station, she was in Argo City, she was on Krypton._

_Kara was home._

***

_**The Phantom Zone** _

Maybe the unraveling happens slowly or maybe it happens in the blink of an eye, there’s really no way to tell. Time had literally stopped when she had climbed into the pod and Alura and Zor-El had her promise to be careful and to do great things. Krypton was dying soon, that much was true and none of them knew when the end was coming. It had been 10 years since that fateful day in the great hall of Jaru when they had learned that they had less than a lifetime to make things right or find a way to stop a planet from exploding into itself. They had spent that time frantically researching, spending years developing OmegaHedrons and BetaHedrons to capture the history of the planet and to fuel its continuation elsewhere. Harun-El was extracted and stabilized and secured, but it was still a tricky substance even then. Everything they could think to do, the Kryptonians tried and tried, schemed and planned and put measures in place until the people fought and fell apart because the center could not hold.

It was only when her pod started up and she stared at the faces of her parents that Kara realized they knew when the world would end and that was why they told her to go. They had said it was because they needed the brightest and the bravest among them all to travel to a distant galactic center to carry a message from Krypton. It had to be Kara, always Kara - their bravest paragon of hope. Maybe that had been so, but as her pod shot out of the House of El dock, she saw the truth. Krypton was on fire and the end was now and she hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye to what she hadn’t realized she was losing.

Now, as time stood still, she wondered if it was all worth it. When the blacknesss around her absorbed all the colors she had inside of her, she started to doubt they had ever existed at all. When the silence stretched endlessly on, Kara Zor-El had tried to keep every word she knew on the tip of her tongue and had spoken each of them out loud in hopes that they would not be lost. Kryptonian words filled her pod and other words in a language she didn’t know filled her heart until they all ran together into a pattern of sounds that repeated over and over again. As Kara Zor-El circled endlessly around an event horizon near Sgr A, the only thing she had left was a pinprick of light that looked like an illusion and felt like a miracle unrealized.

And so it was for eternity or what felt like it.

Until a crackle of life and energy fired up and suddenly her pod lit up so brightly, it blinded. In the nothingness of the Phantom Zone, there was something and that something sparked in reach. What that spark found was the edge of a silver key that hung around her neck and that had kept the Sunstone her mother had given her company. And with that, the needle skipped a beat and Kara’s pod fired its engines and was pulled away from the infinite loop she had been on. Across the vizi-glass control panel of her pod, Kara’s eyes saw three red dots in a triangular shape before a string of unfamiliar symbols flashed:

[ **Rexec** < Elpod1.00784u > **multiversege** t: 1010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01010101 01101110 01101001 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01100101 00001010 00001010 01010110 01101001 01110010 01100111 01101111 00100000 01010011 01110101 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100011 01101100 01110101 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010 00001010 00001010 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001100 01101111 01100011 01100001 01101100 00100000 01000111 01110010 01101111 01110101 01110000 00001010 00001010 01001101 01101001 01101100 01101011 01111001 00100000 01010111 01100001 01111001 00100000 01000111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01111000 01111001 00001010 00001010 01010011 01101111 01101100 01100001 01110010 00100000 01010011 01111001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101101 00001010 00001010 01000101 01100001 01110010 01101100 01111001

 **If** (E = E-1); then **timeput** : 281.MDCCXXX; **locput** : 43.7679° N, 11.2531° E]

As Kara Zor-El’s pod zipped away from the event horizon, she realized that to endure was to hope and to hope was to promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On Earth, the people told themselves stories. Here is one of them written during a time we could not fathom. I hope it transports you away for a moment, sparks a glimmer of hope when it feels too heavy.


	3. Corsica

_Of the heavens, what is its substance;_  
 _Of deamons and heroes;_  
 _Of form;_  
 _Of the order of the stars;_  
 _Of the course and motion of heavenly bodies;_  
 _Whence the stars derive their light;_  
 _Of the so-called Dioscuri;_  
 _Of an eclipse of the sun;_  
 _Of an eclipse of the moon;_  
 _Of the appearance of the moon, and why it appears earthly;_  
 _Of its distances;_  
 _Of years;_  
 _Of the earth;_  
 _Of the figure of the earth;_  
 _Of the position of the earth;_  
 _Of the earth’s motion;_  
 _Of the sea, how it was formed and why it is salt;_  
 _Of the parts of the soul;_  
 _Of the ruling part. -_ (Book XV _, Praeparatio Evangelica_ )

_**Calvi/Punta Carchincu/Lumio, Corsica 1720** **A.D.**  
_

It wasn’t always like this.

There was a time when she didn’t _know._ When she wasn’t _aware_. But now, there was no going back, no unseeing what was seen, undoing what was done. There was a before and an after and she was clearly on the other side of that equation. Lena Luthor used to know how things worked, she had a clever mind even as a child. She taught herself about all the things that made her wonder, all the things that had no easy answer. Her memory was like a box she could keep filling and never be full, everything categorized and connected in both photographic and conceptual form. She knew she wasn’t normal, no other child outside of her brother was like her. No book was a stranger, no idea too hard to puzzle out, no problem too difficult for her to find a way to solve it.

Her father and Alexander challenged her, gave her harder and harder subjects to master and she did her best at finding ways to make them both proud. Her mother, on the other hand, took that pride and bent it to her will, molding it into something Lillian could show off or use. The Luthors’ aristocratic tendencies towards world domination were only amplified by their ambition and calculating strategy. In spite, Lena simply got better and smarter and hid the things that made her proud, hid the things she loved most so her family couldn’t find it. She hid knowledge and evidence and feelings and visions. She might only be beginning her sixteenth year, but she was no fool. Even before.

But this... _problem_...wasn’t like any of the others and it wasn’t entirely a problem per se. It was a mystery and it was something impossible and if Lena believed in magic, it would qualify. No matter how she tried to figure it out, she couldn’t get the numbers to add up into something logical that would explain how a girl fell from the sky and found... _her_.

Every book she had ever read to date had few clues to follow or theories to help explain. And she had read just about every illicitly acquired manuscript in the Luthor collection, collected from various _Bibliotheca Regias_ and dealers across Europe and the Mediterrean. She was not proud of how her family acquired artifacts, objects, and items of value and Alexander made her swear on her life before he allowed her into one of their family vaults years before. She came to learn the Luthors had many such caches and properties and clandestine arrangements all across the old world and beyond. Knowledge was currency, she knew it then as she did now, but even knowledge had not prepared her.

The night Kara Zor-El first appeared in her life left her searching for answers. How? How was it possible?

There had been one small clue about the how and less about the why. It was an idea still fanciful at the time, still unfounded. It had been a marginalia she had once seen on an unpublished draft (Volume 2, _Astronomiae Instauratae Progymnasmata_ ) and it sparked in her mind. No one had observed stellar parallax to date and it was the cause of much debate, the heart of it challenging the old ways and the Church. But there had to be something to explain the way light arrived, bent, refracted, became whole.

Maybe it wasn’t possible, maybe it was still an afterthought with no way to find proof. But it gave Lena an idea of how such a thing could occur, how light could fool, how distance could be calculated and overcome. Now that she was aware, it was why she showed up in the same spot every eighteenth night, each time a minute later than the previous. She was waiting for a vision. And it was why she thought Corsica was the only place she could possibly be for everything to align.

Even if her science was right, she still had not figured out why. Why had a girl from the stars come looking for her?

***

_Many months earlier, the von Luthors abandoned their summer villa along the coast of Marseille just as the mur de la peste were being built and the city locked down against a coming death. Money, and lots of it, bought them safe passage to Corsica. It was a safe haven in the middle of the Mediterrean Sea, far from the pestilence and disease starting to decimate parts of Europe. The island was surrounded by water and as far as Lionel Luthor was concerned, his family’s legacy was worth what he paid for land on it and what he did to make that money. It would not be the first or last time that the ends would justify the means for her family. Family money had accumulated mysteriously and abundantly and Lena stopped asking questions when Lillian’s swift backhand silenced her mouth at a younger age. She was the odd one out in a family bent on maintaining and increasing their influence across old world geography and politics._

_Lena had few clear memories of her childhood, most of it spent in dark cities, dark stately corridors and cold rooms, or in endless travel to and from through wooded countrysides, rough roads, or mountainous terrain. Everything blended together into an opaque picture of who she was supposed to be in a family that rarely had time for a child like her. She lost herself in books and ideas, gathering her most treasured tomes to take with her from place to place, finding others to add to her understanding of the world and how it worked, how she could escape from a family that didn’t quite feel hers. She looked nothing like them except for her father when he smiled in just the right way which was not often enough._

_Her only truly happy memory had been with him when Lionel had taken her to Schönbrunn gardens near the Wien River in the city where they lived the longest. She was captivated by the spacious land, the greenest grass, summer flowers and glimpses of wildlife skittering among the trees. It made her feel alive and free to breathe despite the shadows of the Schlosss Palace on the far edges of the vast estate. Lionel told her that one day, the von Luthors would own as much or more in this world and Lena didn’t think to ask how or why it mattered. Those carefree days were long in the past and now, she was in the middle of a blue sea with her life about to change again._

_Corsica. She had barely been given the name of where they were headed but here it was._

_It was like a shimmering mirage among the jewelled blue of the sea, an outpost far away from any continent or any city. Rocky, mountainous and as isolated as it was beautiful. Lena’s eyes took to it immediately when it finally became visible from her perch on the merchant ship’s starboard side. Corsica was dotted with small ancient towns nestled on cliffs, tucked into circular bays, and terraced up into the mountainside. It looked like paradise as many places do until the shine wears off. But it never did for Lena. It was a place that would help turn her into someone new, someone different._

_This place was to become the von Luthor’s new summer home and they were to build an estate on Punta Carchincu. A jagged piece of land where the land and sea and clouds came together and the sun blazed enough to burn. Lionel and Alexander both schemed and agreed that the more places they had in their possession, the better chance their family would have to survive plagues and catastrophes and unrest. These threats seen and unseen made her mother, Lillian, that much harder, that much sharper to protect what was hers. It would become a mantle and a knife, depending on her whims._

_“Why did we have to lie?”_

_Lena could hear her mother huff at her question on the arduous, bumpy carriage ride from the port of Calvi to their next stop on the island. They had made the trip across the Mediterranean and told no one where they came from. They had broken quarantine and Corsican people were vigilant for signs of the Black Death creeping to their island. Lionel and Alexander had paid handsomely to fabricate a new manifest for their ship and claim they came from Genoa. Lena spent much of the trip on deck, eyes upon the gentle waves and the sun on her face. Lionel and Alexander had left her in Calvi with her mother and a small staff as the men made their way back to the mainland on the next ship out. There was a dynasty to be sustained and her father and brother were off to secure their London interests in the South Sea Company. Now, Lena was alone with Lilian Luthor for the unpredictable future and that came with a price._

_“Lutessa, for the last time, the von Luthors have a reputation to maintain. We have the brightest mind on earth and I will not let the taint of a plague stop Alexander from rising. So keep your mouth shut and mind your business. I have a family to think about.”_

_The way Lilian said it reminded Lena that she was not exactly considered a part of that family. She hated the name her mother insisted on calling her and she knew it was not the one given to her at birth. Lionel let her real name slip one day when she was young and kept it their secret, calling her Lena when they were alone with such affection that she believed he cared. Lilian on the other hand, tolerated her at best. Alexander befriended her but the gap in age and temperament between them sometimes felt vast. So she did her best to survive, keeping to herself and her thoughts and her books._

_Here, at Punta Carchincu on acres of private rocky land along the coast surrounded by dense maquis on the hillside above them, they were to build a summer estate worthy of their wealth and stature. It would be close enough to access the storied cities of wealth and influence throughout Europe and far enough for them to be left alone to plot and to plan and to acquire and to influence. The rocks and the sea became her second home away from the construction and the reaches of her mother. They would spend two years there in virtual solitude except for the house staff and laborers from Lumio who built more walls to separate them. As if walls would be enough to keep out invisible dangers._

_On Corsica, the temperature never changed and the sun was so bright she could barely see. It burned her skin if she let it so she wrapped herself in soft linens and silks, brimmed hats made for her by the Lumio wives who came with their husbands for the weeks’ work. They took to bringing her skirts in muted shades of green and purples, pale bone white linen shirts, silk wraps in richer colors to wrap her hair or save the back of her neck from the sun. Her wardrobe had shifted towards the practical on the island, eschewing the fineries Lilian still insisted wearing for the ‘peasantries’ that her mother disdained. It felt good to blend in when she went to town even if everyone knew her name. She could hear them whisper ‘von Luthors’ in Corsican Cismontani and Ligurian accents whenever they went to the towns nearest them._

_But Lena had found herself a place to go among the rocks and the beach down from the house under perpetual construction and expansion. The spot along the coast was her home away from home and she spent most days there, reading, thinking, daydreaming. She counted herself lucky that she was allowed to bring the trunk of books and maps she had packed for the summer when they fled. She pleaded with her father on the dock in Marseille when the portage negotiations for the last free (and healthy) boat out of the city became dire. Lilian had dismissed it outright, unwilling to pay for Lena’s ‘frivolities at a time like this’. It had been her brother who pulled a newly minted silver écu out of his pocket and that was that._

_It was her saving grace now._

_That, and secretly purchased manuscripts from the Carmelite sisters who tended to the tiny Collegiata dei Santi Pietro e Paolo outpost up in Lumio. She had stumbled upon them during one of her mother’s weekly runs to “civilization”. She visited as often as she could, never telling her mother where she went once the carriage stopped and the staff dispersed to purchase what was needed. As they loaded carts of sun-baked tiles, spices, oils, flour, figs, chestnuts, citrus, cheeses, smoked fishes and meats, Lena wandered the narrow roads towards the old stone building and smaller dwelling structures surrounded by citrus groves and carefully tended gardens. It had been a happy coincidence, to find this place but the blooming flowers caught her eye._

_The sisters quietly showed her all that grew up and down the slopes from Lumio to the coast. Flowering pink tamarix, prickly pear studded with bright red fruit, aloes and spiked ‘pianta di u seculu’, scented lavender waving in the wind, white clematis and rosemary twining and covering the stone walls around the gardens. It was a feast for her eyes and a welcomed sight from the uncultivate sand and clay and rocks around their villa and Lena felt like she could breathe again. Even if she was a curiosity for the old women and even if she kept coming back with new words she learned._

_The sisters were kind, if not secretive of their dealings with antiquities and rare volumes spirited around the ports of the Mediterranean and inland. It took her five months before they allowed her inside the stone building itself, the vestibule and sanctuary dark and incensed. It took another month before they shared their treasure trove stored below in a converted dry root cellar. This despite her name she was sure they knew. It turned out that Lena had embraced one of the Luthor traits after all and she became a collector of sources of knowledge in her own right._

_She also learned the sisters were followers of Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi and told her stories of devotion, of ecstasies and prophecies and admonitions. Fantastical tales, supposed legends, rapturous visions all wrapped in the faith of true believers. Lena listened, politely. They gathered around her under the shade of lemon trees, flavored her water with it and stared at someone like her. To them, she was a strange apparition, too young, her long ‘capelli nuttati’, skin too porcelain white for the sun to have kissed. They called her their ‘stella neru’ in whispered tones when she appeared. In return, she reserved judgment. She took in their stories of how the world had woven together science, religion, and mysticism with the same threads that bound politics and money and influence. She learned what she could in those visits, absorbed all._

_As the sun would start its descent, Lena would bid her farewells even as the sisters pulled at her sleeves and pressed other secrets into her hands. Lena would wrap the gifts they gave her - folios and books and instruments - in soft buckskin and tuck them far away from her mother’s prying eyes. Knowledge was her way out, the way forward, and she knew it. Those two years would turn out to be pivotal for Lena even if she could have never imagined it when this island first came into view._

_In time, Corsica would become a monument to love and bravery._

***

The first time it happened, Lena felt like she was falling.

She was alone again on another warm night with only the company of quiet Mediterranean waves and the stars. Like usual, she slipped away from the dark von Luthor house through a path in the dense maquis thicket down to her spot. Her mother had restocked the estate with as many bottles of local wine she could find in Lumio. Lillian was in a foul mood because she was bored and the wine wasn’t up to her standards, yet she drank. To escape, Lena packed a few things in her satchel, snatched a bottle of that very wine from behind her mother’s back, and took off into the night. It became a ritual, the leaving and the loneliness.

Lena was preparing for a life of inquiry, solitary and focused on curing what ailed the human condition, what made the world spin, how minds made meaning, how hearts beat and why hers felt like it was missing a reason. There was something out there, just under the surface waiting to be seen or heard or felt or known. There was a purpose for her, she was sure of it, she just needed to find it, find the key to how it all fit together and made sense. Every night she left an unfinished house, she could at least come back more complete on the inside and that was enough.

The brambles of the maquis bit and snagged at the linen of her skirt as she made her way down to her sanctuary by the sea. Tucked into a niche in the rocks along the edge of the coast, she set up her oil lamps and laid out the rattan mat she had stored here for such visits. The night air felt heavy and sweet with sea salt and honeysuckle. She uncorked the wine and made a face at the taste, but poured it into her cup just the same. Lena wished she didn’t have a taste for the same thing that made Lillian cruel. She focused instead on self-made lessons, popping an olive into her mouth as she settled in among the stars, a soft golden circle of lamplight surrounding her. She was going to study a recently uncovered manuscript from the sisters (Book 9, _Riccioli folio_ ) and her eyes strained at the delicate page with its barely visible ink. Just as she was about to set the angle measurement of one of her homemade instruments, she saw a shimmer, a spark just to her left.

The air cracked around her and Lena could only take a deep breath at the taste on her lips. What happened next felt like a divination if she believed in a god which she did not. Twenty paces from her rocky retreat, there appeared pinpricks of light, a million tiny jewels that crystallized into a figure. Here, but not here. She could see through the vision but there was no mistaking that it was a person.

It was a golden girl.

Lena stood and watched as the image became clearer, the flickering specks of light growing slightly brighter but never filling in. Outlined by the dark sea behind, Lena could see the girl her age or so, dressed in a flowing white dress, her feet bare and her hair loose at her shoulders. The girl was looking down at her hands and Lena saw her holding a square of metal or glass, the glint of it refracting differently in the vision as if it were the source of light itself. She was mesmerized as she watched the girl lift her head and look up, her eyes finding Lena’s even in the darkness. The gasp she heard was her own when that girl smiled at... _her_. Clear as day, she could see white teeth and soft lips and an expression of amazement and relief. Lena nearly fell when she heard a soft voice, distant yet warm all the same. It sounded like a door opening, like home.

“It's...you.”


End file.
